Solar and wind farms reshape life for Tibetan herding communities
Large-scale renewable energy projects on the Tibetan Plateau are transforming the pastoral landscape and altering traditional herding practices, with local communities reporting both disruption and uncertainty about long-term impact.
China is building some of the world's largest solar farms on the Tibetan Plateau, a region where nomadic herders have grazed yaks and sheep for millennia. The shift represents a dramatic transformation of the landscape — replacing the open grasslands that define pastoral life with dense rows of solar panels and wind turbines designed to harness the region's ideal conditions for renewable energy.
According to ethnographic research reported by The Conversation, the changes are particularly stark in nomadic communities near Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. Beginning in 2017 and accelerating recently, regional subsidiaries of major energy companies including PowerChina have constructed three solar panel plants — capable of generating about 1 gigawatt of power — alongside a dozen wind turbines on the area's grasslands.
From open grassland to energy infrastructure
The grasslands where these projects are sited are not desert. They are productive pastoral land, known locally as pangtang, where herders have historically moved freely across the landscape. The construction has fundamentally altered that experience.
Walking through the solar farms feels "like moving through a dense forest of iron pillars," one local observer told researchers during a 2023 visit. The posts and underground cables required for the installations disturb the topsoil and grasses that support grazing herds.
Dolma, a local herder documented by researchers, described the psychological and practical toll. "I am used to herding on open grassland," she said. "So, herding under these glass panels feels like something is wrapping around my head. It feels very depressing."
A broader context
China's renewable energy development on the Tibetan Plateau is not new. Since the mid-1990s, many Tibetan communities have lived alongside hydropower stations. The current solar and wind projects represent an expansion of that pattern — driven by the region's high elevations and vast open landscapes, which provide conditions ideal for harnessing renewable energy.
Officials present these projects as part of efforts to modernize rural areas, bring capital to local communities, and advance China's clean energy and carbon reduction goals. However, it remains unclear how the sites comply with China's grassland conservation regulations. Other solar projects elsewhere in China have reportedly been investigated for environmental violations.
The grasslands transformed into solar farms are not sandy deserts, but productive pastoral land where Tibetans have herded for generations.
Verification note
Reporting on the ground-level impacts of these projects remains limited. While The Conversation's account provides direct testimony from local herders and researchers, broader corroboration of the scale, environmental compliance, and longer-term effects of these developments across the plateau is incomplete. Different stakeholders — energy companies, government officials, and pastoral communities — offer diverging assessments of how these projects serve local interests.